Fastening arrangements for pressurized-gas vessels on carrying systems for divers are used to attach the pressurized-gas vessels to a carrying system when these vessels are taken along on a dive. The pressurized-gas vessels are held on the carrying system with the assistance of straps, holding brackets or elastic belts. So that the pressurized-gas vessels are tightly connected to the carrying system and the connections cannot disengage during use, the belt is put under a holding tension during attachment of the pressurized-gas vessel and the holding tension is maintained for the duration of use in that the belt is fixed in this position. The application of the holding tension results from pulling and tightening the slack segment of the belt and the fixation of the belt takes place with the aid of a locking element.
The term “slack segment” of a belt in the present invention is understood as portions of the belt which are wrapped around the pressurized-gas vessel and are loosely and movably guided around the circumference of the pressurized-gas vessel to be fastened. Especially, a possible shiftability perpendicular to the tension direction of the belt is an indication that slack segments are present in the belt.
German patent publication 195 41 286 C2 describes a fastening arrangement for pressurized-gas vessels on a carrier system for divers. In this publication, 195 41 286 C2, a tension clamping bracket is shown as a locking element. In the disengaged state, the slack segment is passed through the clamping bracket for generating the belt tension and, by turning over the clamping bracket to the closed state, the belt position is held. To tension the belt and to fasten the pressurized-gas vessel on a carrying system, it is necessary to reduce the slack segment so far that the belt is tensioned tightly. The slack segment in the belt is the portion of a non-tensioned linear expansion of the belt which can be removed without elastic or plastic deformation by applying a tension force acting in the direction of tensioning along the circumference of the pressurized-gas vessel. After removing the slack, the belt lies tight and form-fit on the periphery of the pressurized-gas vessel. Since no elastic or plastic deformation has taken place yet, the belt is still not under tension to hold the pressurized-gas vessel on the carrying system. The pressurized-gas vessel is force-tightly connected to the carrying system by a further increase in tensile stress in the belt by a fold-stretch-mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,555 shows an alternative embodiment of a locking element for the fixation of textile belts wherein the slack segment of the belt must be passed through. The textile belt holds itself in position under tension via a redirection with a tooth-like structure arranged in the locking element.
To fasten the pressurized-gas vessel, three steps are necessary. In the first step, the slack segment of the belt is first passed through and subsequently the belt is tightened. In a second step, the belt is fixated in place under tension by the locking element. In a third step, the loose, previously passed through end is fixed either on the belt, for example, via a hook and loop fastener (VELCRO), or is fixed on the carrying system or on the pressurized-gas vessel.
The fixing of the loose end is necessary so that the diver does not get hung up on objects such as wreckage parts, tools or boat equipment and thereby run into danger.